Cotton-picker.



G. W. WARD.

COTTON PICKER.

APPLICATION FILED N0v.17.1915.

.1 f Patented Mar. 13, 19N. A. U

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05 l /f//l l?? 75 Z? W/f/ M "f/ /Z G. W. WARD'.

COTTON HCKER.

APPLICATON FILED HOV-17| 1915- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

GEORGE W. WARD, OF LONE MOUNTAIN, TENNESSEE.

i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, (iconen lV. VAnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lone Mountain, in the county of Claiborne Y and State of Tennessee, have invented cer.-

. tain new and useful Improvements in Cotther to mount segmental racks upon the staton-Pickers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,'clear, andeXact descrip- .tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to -1nake and use the same.

This invention r'elates to cotton pickers, and the primary object of the invention is to provide a cotton picker vwhich includes a pair of spaced vertically positioned niembei-s adaptedy for positioning upon each side of a row of cotton for engaging the cotton plants and picking the cottonfrom the bolls of the plants. A

Another object of this invention is to provide in a cotton picker structure as specified, a'statioi'iary cylinder anda rotatable cylinder positioned about the stationary cylinder, and to provide a plurality of rotatable picking spindles which are carried by the rotatable cylinder for moving into and out of a cotton engaging position, and furtionary cylinder for engagement with gears carried by the ends of said picking spindles for rotating the picking spindles in a cotton picking direction during the period of time in which the spindles are 1n a cotton engaging position, and for rotating the-spindles in a reverse direction after they hal-vc passed out of a cotton picking position.

Another, object of this-invention is to provide a novel form of stripping mechanism for stripping the cotton from the picking spindles and depositing it in suitable retaining receptacles.

With the foregoing and other object in view this invention consists in 'such novel .several views, and in which:-

Figure 1 is a'plan view of the improved Specification of Letters Patent.v

COTTON-PICKER.

Patented Mar.' i3, 1917.

Applicationled November 17, 1915. Serial No. 62,018.

cotton picker showing parts thereof broken awa y, l

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the improved cotton picker showing parts in section,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation ofthe improved cotton picker showing parts broken away,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the rotatable cylinder showing the stationary cylinder in side elevation,

Fig. 5 is a sideelevation of the stripping mechanism. i I

. Figli is a cross section through one of the .picking cylinder structures, the picking' spindles'being broken away,

Fig. 7 is a cross section through one` of the picking cylinder structures having the outer cylinders removed,

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through oneof the picking cylinders showing ajfragment of one of the picking spindles attached thereto, and

Fig. 9 is a View showing a ratchet construction employed' in the construction of the cotton picker. f

Referring more particularly tothe drawings,1 designates the main body of the cot,- ton picker, which is constructed of sheet metal, ,and is supported by suitable supporting bars. An arch -aXle 2 is provided," the f horizontal portion of. which extends entirely across the upper surface of ther main body 1 and which axle is bent downwardly at the sides of the body 1 and has spindles 3 formed thereon and extending outwardly through the main body or casing asclearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings upon which spindles the supporting lwheels 4- of the cotton picker 'are mounted.

The housing 1 of the cotton picker is divided into two sections, one of which travels over the left side of al row of cotton plants and the other of which travels on the right side, there being a space indicated at 6, between the facing sides of the sections, througli'whieh the stems or stalks ofthe'eotton plants are positioned during the operation of the cotton picker. Positioned with` in each of the sections of the housing or body 1.I is a cotton picking structure, which includes a vertically positioned stationary roll or cylinder 7. The cylinder 7, has a rec'- tangular shaft 8 formed upon its lower end, and a verticnllv extending shaft 9 formed v Civ.

upon its upper end. The lower rectangular shaft 8 extends through the bottom of the housing 1. rllhe hollow rotatable cylinder 11 is po. tioned conecntriiailly about the stationary cylinder 7, and it has a bveledgear 12 attached to its upper end. The beveled 12 meshes with a beveled pinion 11', which is,carried by a shaft 12.Y The shaft lproject-s out of the side of the casing 1 and has a gear 13 mounted thereon, which meshes with a gear 14. l he gear'14 meshes with a second gear 15, which in' turn meshes with gear 1G. Thegear 1G mounted upon the axle 3 and has a clutch segment indicated at 17 formed upon its hub section which is adapted tor'coaction with a clutch segment 13 keyed upon the axle 3. The clutch segment 18 has a rod 1S) connected thereto, which rod is pivotally supported as at 20. A rod 21 is connected to the upper end of the rod 19 and to a hand lever the stationary cylinder 11.

hand lever 22 and coacts with a quadrant for holding the lever and consequently the rod 21 and rod 19 in various adpisted positions, for holding theclut-cli segment 1S and 16.

The rotatable cylinder 1'1, is provided with a plurality of vertically and circumferentially soaced openings 30 through which the cotton picking spindles 31 extend. The cotton picking spindles 31 have a plurality of barbs formed upon their opposite edges, as is clearly shown at 32, in Fig. 8 of the drawings. The inner or spindle e-nd 33 of the cotton picking spindles 31 are rotatably seated in substantially Li-shaped brackets 34, which are secuiedto the interior of the cylinder and vtra-vel in grooves formed in Gears 38 are mounted upon the inner ends 33 of the spindles 31 and mesh with teetli'oriiied upon segmental rack bars 39 and 40 aiiixed to the stationary cylinder 7. The rack bars are positioned so that their teeth extend upwardly from the bottom edges of the grooves 35, and the rack bars 40' are positioned so that their teeth extend downwardly from the upper edge of the groove 35. The rack bars 40 commence at the termination of the rack bars 39, is. clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 7, and therefore extend only partially around the cylinder 7.

During the rotation of the cylinder 11, the various spindles 31 which extend outwardly from the cylinder 1 1 in spaced rows, Will be moved into and out of a cotton picking position. The segmental rack bars 39 are positioned, so Vthat when the spindles 31 move'into a cotton picking position?, they will be rotated, owing to the iact that the gears 38 will Imesh with the teeth of the rack oars 39. lVhen the spindles 31 move out of ay cotton picking position, the gears v3S move out of engagement '\1 ith the teeth of the rack bars 39 and intoengagement with theI teeth of the rack bars 40', which rotate the spindles inl aV reverse direction to the direction in which they were rotated by the rack 39, permitting oi the untwisting or unwinding of the cotton from the spindles and facili- ,Y

intervals throughout theirl lengths, and cor-- responding to the' level'otthe picking spin-l Arcuate arms are attached to dies 31. and radiate from the shafts 43. The arms 45 engage the cotton and strip the same from the spindles 31 during their reverse'rotation, f and throw the cotton rearwardly within the housing 1, for deposit in an ordinary cotton receiving sack which maybe attached to the rear end ort`- the housing. The shafts 43 have beveled gears '47 mounted thereon which mesh with beveled pinions 48. The pinions 48 are mounted upon shafts 49. The shafts 4f) extend forwardly from the stripping members andliave beveled pinions 50 mounted on their ends remote from the -beveled pinions 48e The beveled gears'O mesh with the beveled gear 12. y r The arch axle 2 is bent downwardly as is shown at 52, so that it will engage the top 4of the1 cotton plants and bend them down wardly in a position to be engaged bythe uppermost of the cotton picking spindles.

In Fig. 9. oie the drawings, a ratchet' construction is shown, which is mounted upon the gear 16, and is provided for permitting backward movement of the cotton harvester without operating the cotton picking mechanism. lThe axle 3, has a ratchet 54 mounted thereupon, with which spring controlled pawls 55 coact, forinsuring the rotation of the gear with the rotation of the axle during the forward movement of the cotton harvester. TlVhen the cotton harvester is backed, the pawls will slip over the ratchetand permit the gear to run free uponl the axle'which is the ordinary construction employed in various types ,of :agricultural implements. housing indicated at 54 is positioned over the ratchet to prevent the accumulation of dirt'or the'like thereon.

In the operation of the improved cotton harvester, the cotton harvester is pulled along a row of cotton, so that the stalks of the cotton plants will pass through the space 6, between the facing sides of the sections of the housing 1.' The clutch mechanisms 17 and 18, which are duplicated upon 'each side of the cotton harvester, -are thrown i into operation, which willv rotate each of the rotatable cylinders 11 which cylinders are geared for rotation toward each other. During the rotation of the cylinders 11, the

cotton picking spindles 31 will be rotated,

When they are in position for engaging the cotton plants,-by the meshing engagement between the gears'38 and the rack bars 39.

The rotation of the spindles will cause the` barbs 32 to engage the cotton and pull it from the bolls. When the gears 38 have moved out of engagement with the rack bars 39, at which time the spindles will be out of a cotton picking position, the gears will move into engagement with the rack bars 40, which will reverse the direction of rotation of the spindles and untWist the cotton therefrom. The cotton will then be free so that the arms 45 of the stripper structure may engage the Cotton and strip it from the spindles. The rotation of the stripper'structure will throw the vcotton rearwardly for deposit into an ordinary cotton bag or suitable receptacle which may be attached to the rear end of the housing 1 of the cotton picker. Swingletrees 60 are attached'I to the draft tongues.

From the foregoing description takenin connectionA with the accompanying drawt ings the advantages of construction and of the method of operation of the improved cotton picker Will be readily apparent to those skilledA in the art to which this invention appertains and, while in the foregoing description, the principle of the operation of this invention has been described together with various features of construction, it is to be understood that certain minorfeatures of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be altered to suit practical conditions provided such valterations are comprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

What is claimed is v In a cotton picker structure, a supporting frame, a stationary cylinder carried by said frame, a rotary cylinder positioned about said stationary cylinder, means for rotating said rotary cylinder, said stationary cylinder provided with a plurality of vertically space-d circumferential channels, bearing brackets carried by said rotary cylinder and f rotary cylinder, a stripper structure rota-v tably carried by said supporting frame and having a plurality of arcuate radiating arms for passage between the horizontal rows of said spindles for stripping the cotton therefrom.

' In testimony whereof I aflix my signature v in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. WARD. Witnesses J. T, WARD,

NOAH Wann. 

